What Would Jesus Say to a New Ager?

Douglas Groothuis, Ph.D., DougGroothuis@gmail.com

Sunday, August 12, 2007

 

 

I.                   Have You Heard of The Secret –DVD and Book? By Rhonda Byrne

 

A.    Promoted by Oprah; best-seller

 

B.     Occult power of thoughts; you are a creator of all you want; you tap into an universal and impersonal “law of attraction”

 

C.     Part of an ancient error: Genesis 3: “You shall be as gods…”

 

D.    Part of a worldview and movement: Unmasking the New Age, Confronting the New Age

 

 

II.                Worldview of the New Age or New Spirituality (pantheistic monism): Six Claims

 

A.    All is one (monism) instead of Creator/creation distinction (Genesis 1, John 1:1-5; Romans 1:18-32)

 

 

B.     All is divine (pantheism) instead of Creator/creation distinction (Genesis 1; John 1:1-5; Romans 1:18-32)

 

 

C.     You are divine (self-deification) instead of being made in God’s image (Genesis 1:26)

 

 

D.    You have unlimited potential instead of being a creature who is fallen (see Genesis 3; Romans 3:9-20); openness to the occult (see Deuteronomy 18:9-14; Revelation 22:15)

 

 

E.    Change of consciousness and self-realization/actualization instead of repentance and trust in the work of Jesus Christ (Romans 5:6-11; Ephesians 2:8-9)

 

 

F.     Reincarnation instead of resurrection, heaven and hell (see Matthew 25:31-46; John 5:16-30)

 

III.             The New Age View of Jesus (1 John 4:1-4; Colossians 2:8): Four Claims

 

A.    Bible is not the final authority on Jesus; instead other documents are consulted. The Bible is reinterpreted according to a New Age worldview

 

 

B.     Jesus was an enlightened master, guru, adept, yogi, swami; provided helpful techniques as in The Secret

 

 

C.     Jesus is separate from the impersonal “Christ Consciousness”

 

 

D.    Jesus came to be a model for what we all could attain not uniquely the God-man.

 

 

IV.              The Real Jesus of History and Eternity

 

·        Basic principles of Christian witness: love, prayer, listening, reasoning (see last sermon)

 

A.    The reliability of the New Testament record of Jesus

 

1.      Accurately preserved through time (manuscript evidence)

 

2.      Written by those in the know shortly after the events they describe (see Luke 1:1-4; John 21:24; 2 Peter 1:16)

 

3.      Confirmed by archaeology and extra-biblical history (Jewish and Gentile)

 

4.      Better attested than any other document about Jesus, including the popular Gnostic documents (Gospel of Thomas, Gospel of Judas)

 

5.      Books in the New Testament are there for good reasons, not because of a conspiracy (The Da Vinci Code): they are related to an apostle; they agree on doctrine; and they are ancient

 

B.     Jesus’ unique and supreme credentials as Savior and Lord (see the Four Gospels): Six items

 

1.      Exorcist without peer

 

2.      Healer of all manner of mental and physical disease, raises the dead

 

3.      Miracle worker: creates food, has authority over nature

 

4.      Teacher, thinker without parallel

 

5.      Man of deepest compassion: reached the outcasts, touched lepers, dined with tax collectors, prostitutes

 

6.      Fulfillment of numerous prophecies of the Old Testament (Isaiah 53)

 

C.     The message and achievements of Jesus: six facts

 

1.      Jesus’ mission: to seek and to save the lost  (Luke 19:10)

 

2.      Only Mediator between God and humans (Matthew 11:27; see also John 14:1-6; Acts 4:12; 1 Timothy 2:5)

 

3.      Divine abilities: to forgive sin (Mark 2:1-10: Luke 7:36-50)

 

4.      Divine identity as the one true God (John 8:58; 20:24-29)

 

5.      Jesus’ death as atonement for sin against God (Matthew 20:28; see Isaiah 53)

 

6.      Jesus’ resurrection as the vindication of his claims (Romans 1:4; 1 Corinthians 15:1-8)

 

a.       This is based on the best documents available and confirmed by many witnesses

 

b.      Alternative theories fail: hallucination, planned deception, etc.

 

 

V.                 The Call of Jesus Today: Bring this to the New Age

 

A.    Repent of your sins (Matthew 4:17: Luke 24:47; Acts 17:30); not awaken to your deity

 

 

B.     Turn to Jesus to find truth and rest (John 14:6; Matthew 11:28-29); do not turn to your Higher Self and actualize it

 

 

C.     Trust in Jesus for everlasting life (John 1:12-13; 3:16), beginning now changing everything and continue forever.

  

 

If you declare with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved (Romans 10:9).

 

References: Douglas Groothuis, On Jesus (Wadsworth, 2003); Jesus in an Age of Controversy (Wipf and Stock reprint, 2001); Unmasking the New Age (InterVarsity, 1986); Confronting the New Age (InterVarsity, 1988); “The New Age Worldview: Is it Believable?” at http://www.trueu.org/Academics/LectureHall/A000000596.cfm.